HC La Chaux-de-Fonds showed who is the boss of Swiss League on Tuesday evening. Louis Matte’s men beat Basel 6-3 in front of more than 4,000 spectators at the Mélèzes ice rink. Thanks to this victory, the Abeilles take the lead in the standings four days before the end of the regular season.
Chaux-de-Fonniers and Bâlois engaged in a very fine duel, worthy of a “top” match. For 40 minutes, the two teams went blow for blow, both literally and figuratively. Overall dominant, and led by Toms Andersons of the big nights, Louis Matte’s troop logically took the lead during the meeting. Leading by three lengths from the start of the third “twenty”, the Abeilles were then able to control the end of the match, leaving very few opportunities to their opponents.
“We all fought for each other, yet we had injuries along the way. There weren’t many left at the end. We played simple, as we should. We can be proud of ourselves,” said defender Arnaud Jaquet at the end of the match. “We had a good team performance,” agreed coach Louis Matte. “Everyone did a little extra tonight to get these three points.”
A match that will leave its mark
-The meeting, however, left quite a few traces in the Chaux-de-Foniers organizations. Damian Gehringer, Julien Privet, Steven Macquat and Gilian Kohler did not finish the match. Visibly injured in one leg, Kohler left the ice rink during the game to go for examinations at the hospital.
The Abeilles will not have time to recover, however, as they face the GCK Lions on Thursday evening at the Mélèzes ice rink.
Swiss
